An Overview ofInsect-RelatedEvents in Modern Japan:Their Extent and Characteristics

摘要

Insects are commonly featured in recreation and tourism around the world, despite the generally negative public perception surrounding them (Kellert 1993, Baldwin et al. 2008). Many people enjoy watching butterflies in insectarium gardens (Veltman 2013), observing and collecting dragonflies (Lemelin 2007), and admiring the light displays of fireflies (Lemelin 2013a). In many cases, activities like these are becoming increasingly popular. Monarch butterfly watching in Mexico and glowworm watching in Australia and New Zealand attract 250,000 and 50,000 tourists per year, respectively (Lemelin 2013a). Insect-related events (or insect festivals) for conservation, celebration, and education are also common in Europe, North America, and Asia (Hvenegaard et al. 2013). These positive interactions with insects encourage public appreciation of insects, but vary culturally in their forms and approaches (Hogue 1987). Thus, understanding the pattern of insect appearances in recreation and tourism events in a variety of cultures can provide important insights into effective ways of promoting insect conservation, which is often overlooked in biodiversity conservation strategies (Lemelin 2013b). However, these types of interdisciplinary studies are relatively newand remain limited in both entomology and tourism sciences (Hogue 1987, Lemelin 2013a).